


The Western Air Temple

by Trisa_Slyne



Category: A:TLA, Avatar the Last Airbender - Fandom, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-28
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2017-12-30 18:53:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trisa_Slyne/pseuds/Trisa_Slyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko is trying to figure out how to join the gAang when he is interrupted by an unexpected and unwelcome visitor. Set after Day of Black Sun part 2. An alternate way Zuko could have joined the group.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own A:tla or any of the characters. Mike and Bryan do and they the bomb.

**The Western Air Temple**

**Chapter 1: Visitor**

Zuko paced at the cliff above the Western Air Temple where the Avatar's group was hiding. He had been pacing in the forest ever since he had landed, considering every possible way of approaching them as well as the consequences for each. 

He could hide in the temple and wait for them to find him but they would probably think there was an ambush hidden elsewhere in the temple and leave. And of course they would be more careful about being followed. He could be more direct and just walk up to them and be completely honest, but he had no idea what he would say. 

Then there were the other, crazier, ideas. He could pretend he was going there to hide and act surprised that they were there. He could find food and try to use it as a peace offering. In the end, he knew approaching them directly and openly was the best way, but he had lost his nerve every time he went to do so. Now the light was fading. He briefly considered waiting until they were all asleep and sneaking in and trying to talk to the Avatar directly and alone, but he discarded the idea immediately. He would not trust someone who snuck up on him in the middle of the night. And there were so many things that could go wrong. 

The sun set completely, closing off any options he may have had. He had no idea how he was going to approach them, but he knew approaching any wary group at night was unwise. Having no other choice, he decided to set up camp for the night. 

Zuko used the basket of the deflated balloon for some shelter since he did not have a tent. He debated building a fire, but decided against it. If he had followed the Avatar this easily, someone else could have done the same. He didn’t want to give them away, especially over something he did not even need. Instead he warmed himself up with his breath as Uncle Iroh had taught him one winter on the boat. 

He felt a mixture of pain and yearning when he thought of his Uncle. He had betrayed him and he knew that was unforgiveable, but maybe he could redeem himself a little bit by finally doing what he was supposed to all along. It was time to make his uncle proud instead of his father. 

Ah, his father. His father would have to die. He knew this with a grim certainty but also with a mixture of emotions. He had spent most of his youth trying to earn his father's love; now he was plotting to kill him. His father -his tormentor. His father - his abuser. He could not rectify the two sides of the man, but he realized he had been less father and more monster to him for most of his life. That still did not make Zuko feel much better about what had to be done. 

He fell into a fitful sleep, haunted by dreams of his father. 

~*~ 

Zuko woke up, all at once on guard but unsure against what. He listened closely, not moving a muscle and barely breathing. He heard a racoonowl hoot and the general rustlings around the forest of animals that thrived at night. He listened closer and heard the steady thumping of someone walking toward him. He jerked to his feet immediately. He briefly wondered if it could be one of the Avatar's friends, but no, the direction was wrong. Whoever it was, they were not coming from the direction of the cliff, but from deeper in the forest. 

"Who's there?" Zuko demanded in a harsh voice, sinking into a defensive pose, praying it was not Azula. 

A giant figure emerged a few feet away with a metallic clank. Moonlight filtered through the trees, glinting off the metal prosthetics that served as the man's arm and leg. A giant tattoo of a sideways eye flanked by three red lines covered the majority of his forehead. His name was, well, Zuko did not know his real name since he was apparently mute, but people referred to him as the Metal Assassin. 

"What are you doing here?" Zuko asked, lowering his arms. "Didn't you get the letter?" Mai was not the only person he had written a note to before he had left. "I canceled the job." The man regarded Zuko for a moment, his face impassive. Zuko took a step back. Could Ozai or Azula have hired the assassin? If so, they would be expecting a body, not a captive. 

"Are you here for the rest of the money?" Zuko asked, hoping for some sort of response. He had promised the rest after the deed was done. At the same time he kept himself on alert, ready to dodge if his fears were correct. "You can have it." Zuko reached toward his bag, but the Metal Assassin shook his head, finally giving Zuko an indication that he had heard him. 

"I can pay you double to give up the chase," Zuko said, grasping at straws. The Metal Assassin's eyes hardened and he glared at Zuko as if he were personally insulted that Zuko had tried to bribe him. 

Part of Zuko's brain clicked. Uncle Iroh had warned him about hiring bounty hunters after he had hired June months ago. 'Most bounty hunters are driven by greed, but greed is not the only drive for some.' As usual, Uncle Iroh could not just say what he meant, so Zuko had, as usual, ignored him. 

Now he was wishing he had asked more questions. 

"Well then what do you want?" 

The Metal Assassin pointed toward Zuko with one metallic finger and Zuko felt the pit of his stomach drop. It took him a moment to gather his racing thoughts together enough to realize that he was not the assassin's target. If the Metal Assassin were after him, he would have attacked already. Zuko looked behind himself, realizing the cliff, and the Avatar, were what was behind him. Zuko cursed his own stupidity. The Metal Assassin would complete the job, payment or not. He had a reputation for always getting his mark. He was not going to risk that record just because Zuko wanted to cancel the job. 

"I won't let you hurt them," Zuko took a fighting stance. There was no way he could stop the Metal Assassin by himself but at least he could try. He examined his options. He could not risk missing and setting the forest on fire. A large forest fire would attract people to come extinguish it. Any activity around an air temple in the area would raise suspicions, and Azula would come running. 

The Metal Assassin took a deep breath and Zuko dove behind a tree. The tree exploded and Zuko rolled to his feet and made a break for it, running away from the temple. He could hear the clank of the Metal Assassin's metal leg as he, thankfully, gave chase. Zuko could only hope to lead the assassin away and then… and then he had no clue. He would have to figure it out as he went, like he always did. For the life of him he could not remember a time when that had actually worked. 

Zuko weaved in and out among the trees. The ground in front of him exploded and he changed direction, panic making him lose his hold on directions just long enough to make every way look the same. He chose a direction and ran until he stumbled over toward the edge of the cliff. So much for leading him away from the Avatar. 

Zuko ran into the clearing and stopped to look around. There was nothing for him to hide behind. He looked over the cliff. The Avatar's friends were likely near the bottom- or top, since it was upside-down- of the temple. He was not sure that they would be able to hear them fighting and was not sure they would come to his aid even if they did. He had left his rope back at the campsite so there was no way he could try getting down to them. 

Zuko could hear the Metal Assassin as he approached the edge of the forest. Zuko's back was against a wall- or well, the edge of the cliff- he was left with little choice. 

Zuko took a deep breath and emptied his mind. He could feel the energy surrounding him. His Uncle could do this. His sister could do this. His father could do this. He would do this. He took a strong stance, rotated his arms the way Uncle Iroh had shown him, and began stretching apart the energies. It felt like pulling open a very heavy door that someone else was trying to push closed at the same time. 

Sweat rolled down Zuko's face. He gave a final tug, separating the energy, before he rapidly let go and felt it explode into him. He directed the energy through his body right as the Metal Assassin stepped into the clearing and took a deep breath. 

Zuko released his lightning. The Metal Assassin released his blast. 

Zuko jumped back. The blast blew him further back and suddenly the ground beneath him crumbled and he went down, down, down. 

As he fell he saw the Metal Assassin rise from a crouch. Zuko had missed. Before he could even process what to do next, he hit his head against a jutting rock and fell into oblivion.


	2. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aang cannot sleep. He is being haunted by his past and present failures.

**Chapter 2: Regret**

Aang sat hunched over at the edge, dangling his legs off it. He was a few floors down from the others. He had his glider next to him. He had flown around a bit to help him feel better. Usually it helped. But not tonight. Tonight, he could not sleep. His heart was racing. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the faces of those they had left behind. Katara's dad. Haru's dad. Teo's dad. Pipsqueak. So many others. And then there were the faces no one knew about, those who had been dead for a hundred years. The ones he only let himself miss in private because no one else would understand. All because he had run away. 

He had sworn to himself that he would never run away again, never leave people behind again, never let anyone else suffer because of him again. Yet here he was. 

All he could think about now was how all their friends and family could be used for bait for him… or they could be executed. 

His people had been deemed expendable. Why would his friends' family be any different? He wiped sweat off his forehead and lay down on the cool floor. The Avatar is supposed to protect people, not get them killed. How could he be the avatar when he was the reason people were dying? 

The worst part was that everyone knew what they were doing. They were willing to die for him. So many people had already died for him. Was he really worth dying for? Had it been worth it for his entire race to die out? Would his friends forgive him for getting their loved ones killed? 

He gasped as he suddenly pictured Katara, angry, tears streaming down her cheeks. _'You monster! You left my father to die!' she said in his mind, her voice piercing and shrill. 'I can never forgive you for this. I never want to see you again!'_

Pain shot through his chest. His eyes widened and his chest heaved into the air. He gasped and rolled over, clutching his chest and breathing in quick gasps. The pain lessened little by little until it left him lying face down on the floor, shaking and tense. 

The pressure behind his eyes had built beyond his control. His eyes burned. And ached. He drew his knees up to his chest and hugged them tightly. "I'm such a failure as an avatar!" he choked and the leak was sprung. He covered his mouth, but he was done. He continued to silently scream as the tears came down. He lay like that, letting the pain out silently, for a long while. And then he was empty. And weary. Putting his head on his right arm, he faded into oblivion. 

He woke to thunder and lightning. 

Aang sat up and rubbed his eyes. Momo, curled up next to him, opened one eye and yawned. Suddenly, someone plummeted past. Without even pausing to think, Aang grabbed his glider and dove. 

~*~ 

Zuko dreamed he was back at the Pohuai Stronghold, flying through the air with the Avatar. Back to that day he and the Avatar made a connection. He felt a surge of hope. He swore he would do it right this time. He would save the Avatar and join his group now and defeat his father together. Zuko gripped his swords- and found nothing. He looked down, expecting to see the Yuyan archers ready to shoot them down while they were defenseless. But he found a deep gorge instead. Confused, he looked up. The Avatar was indeed carrying him through the night the same as back then but where were they? 

Aang set his passenger down on the lowest level of the temple and flew over a few feet in order to land in front of whoever it was. Aang closed his glider and turned around, a smile on his face, about to make a witty remark about leaving the flying to him when he saw who it was and froze. 

"Zuko?!" Aang said, sounding- to Zuko's chagrin- not too happy to see him. Aang took a defensive stance with his glider pointing toward Zuko. "What are **you** doing here? How did you find us?!" 

Zuko stood and held his hands out in front of him, palms facing Aang. "Wait, I can explain-" 

An explosion rocked the temple and Aang looked up. 

"IT'S SPARKY SPARKY BOOM MAN!" Sokka screamed from high above them. His announcement echoed through the gorge. 

"Great. Just what we needed. The two people best at hunting me down joining forces to find me," Aang sighed. 

"Um… He's not with me," Zuko interjected. But then the smile faded as he remembered…"I mean, I did hire him, but I cancelled the job…" 

"What?" Aang interrupted. "Youhired that maniac?" Another explosion rattled the temple and Aang looked up, his eyebrows pinching together. 

Zuko opened his mouth to justify himself somehow but abruptly shut it. "I've changed… I can help…" he finally said, his voice quiet 

"I think you've done enough, Zuko," Aang said. He ran to his left, away from Zuko, and dove off the edge, opening his glider and flying up. 

"I'm sorry," Zuko called after him to no response. "Ugh!" Zuko screamed, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "Why did I tell him I hired the assassin? He would've believed me if I'd said Azula had done it!" 

Another explosion rocked the temple and Zuko could hear more people screaming further up. He did not have time for a pity party. It was time to act. He ran toward the stairs. 

A few floors up and he was still far down. Was there not a faster way to get around this temple? He did not remember this place being so big last time he had visited. Of course, then his men had explored most of the temple for him. The answer was so obvious he actually answered himself out loud. "Oh," he smacked his forehead. "Right, airbender temple… airbending." 

He sighed and glanced at the floor he had just reached. Something was laying on the floor. He felt himself drawn to it, having a sudden flashback of finding Katara's necklace. It was a white bison whistle. He picked it up and without further thought blew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Panic attacks can be mistaken for heart attacks. No, I did not give a 12-year-old child a heart attack. But he did have a panic attack. http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/panic-attack-symptoms.


	3. Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka wrestles with some of his own regrets until woken by Combustion Man's attacks.

**Chapter 3: Redemption**

Sokka was running through the maze under the Firelord’s castle. He ran past door after door until he came to the one he just knew was his. He opened it and Suki stood inside. 

Suki stood before him, her arms tied behind her back. “Sokka, save me!” she cried. Sokka tried to step forward, but his feet were glued to the floor. A shadowy figure appeared behind her, holding a sword. The shadowed figure reached around and placed the blade on her throat. 

Sokka’s sword was in his hand. It had been there all along. He gripped it tighter, but he still could not move. Suddenly, Yue was floating next to her, wearing her long white gown, her skin as pale as the moon. They were no longer in Suki’s cell, but at the North Water Tribe, in the hidden Spirit Oasis. La swam aimlessly around the pool. Tui floated upside down. Yue floated above Tui. “He can’t save you,” she said, her voice echoey. “He couldn’t save me.” She began to be pulled down, down, down, into the dead fish. She reached out toward Sokka. 

“Yue, no!” He reached toward her, but he could not move his feet. 

“Why didn’t you save me, Sokka?” she demanded as she was pulled completely into Tui. Tui glowed and twitched and flipped over. Tui swam over to La and the two stared at each other a moment. Then they began their eternal dance once again.

“Sokka,” Suki called. Through his tears he turned back to Suki right as the blade drew across Suki’s throat. He couldn’t move. Blood poured down from the wound as the blade passed by. 

“Why didn’t you save me, Sokka?” Suki asked, tears rolling down her cheeks, mingling with the blood. She collapsed to the ground, her eyes empty. 

Sokka screamed and fell to the ground, suddenly able to move. He crawled over to Suki’s body

“You can’t save her, Sokka” Fish-Yue said. “Or me. You can’t save anyone. Not even yourself.” 

“I’m sorry,” Sokka sobbed. He sobbed it over and over. 

Sokka woke up crying silently. He couldn’t stop himself, so he let himself go, let himself feel the shame, the pain. He cried for another few minutes before he finally finished. Rumbling nearby made him sit up and wipe his face with his sleeve. 

“Wake up! Wake up! We’re under attack!” Katara yelled, running through the hallways as fast as she could. 

Sokka jumped up out of his bedroll, pulling his hair into a messy pigtail as he went. He grabbed his boomerang and sword and ran outside. An explosion went off nearby and he looked and saw their greatest threat. “IT’S SPARKY SPARKY BOOM MAN!” he screamed. 

“Sokka, over here!” Haru called. He looked and found Toph, Haru, and Katara crouching behind a column across from Combustion Man. 

Combustion Man saw Sokka running that way. Toph jerked a hand forward. The wall of the rock behind him suddenly moved forward. Combustion Man heard it and swiftly moved around it, his blast going wild. 

“Do that all along the stairs! He can’t dodge that!” 

“I can’t reach that far. Bending has limits don’t you know- Oh I guess you wouldn’t, would you?” Toph said. 

Combustion Man moved higher up the stairs to an angle at which he could see them. They noticed and were about to move away when Aang flew by in front of them. “Hey you, it’s me that you want. Come and get me!” he yelled as he flew past. Combustion Man immediately aimed and blasted at Aang high in the air. 

“Woah!” Aang yelled as he narrowly avoided the blast. But doing so sent him flying toward the ground above the temple, out of Sokka’s sight. Sokka heard Aang land with a thump and a yell. 

“He must’ve landed wrong!” Sokka said. Combustion Man started to climb back up the steps, slow and steady. “Katara, go help Aang! Haru, go protect the others! Toph and I will stay and distract him,” Sokka directed. 

Katara and Haru ran off toward another set of stairs without a word. Sokka stood up, grabbed his boomerang and threw it skillfully at Combustion Man. It flew true, heading straight for its target. Right as it neared its target Combustion Man lifted his arm and caught it in one hand. Without even looking he threw it back at them. Sokka yelled and ducked to avoid his own weapon. The boomerang flew over his head and hit into the wall. 

“Smooth,” Toph said. “C’mon we gotta get up there!”

“What can we do?” Sokka asked. He looked at Combustion Man, desperate for ideas. He clunked up the stairs. The moonlight shone down brightly and glinted off his metal leg. “Toph!” he said suddenly. 

“What?!” she asked, skidding to a halt right in front of the doorway. 

Sokka ran over to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her along. “I have an idea!” 

Suddenly Appa groaned behind them. Sokka turned around in time to see Appa fly by, rider in tow. “Who is that riding Appa?” Sokka said. He ran back to the edge and looked up. A familiar scarred villain was atop Appa. “Is that _Zuko_ on Appa?” Sokka asked. “Oh no, just what we need. THANKS UNIVERSE!” Sokka screamed. “Wait, why is Appa letting Zuko ride on him? Do you think he’s brainwashed him?! Oh poor Appa!” 

“Sokka move it! We have to get up there!” Toph yelled at him. He shook his head to shake the crazy away and followed her. 

As they ran up the stairs, Sokka offered his idea to Toph. She agreed to it right away. They ran up the stairs to a scene Sokka never could have predicted: Zuko stood in between Aang and Combustion Man in a guarded stance. He was yelling at Combustion Man to stand down. Katara was running toward Zuko, her water out and floating beside her. Combustion Man smiled and concentrated. 

“Do it now, Toph!” Sokka commanded. Toph took a strong pose toward Combustion Man and jerked her arms back, pulling the metal from his leg and arm off and guiding it to cover his entire head just as he released his shot. The explosion went off behind the metal mask. 

Everyone gaped as Combustion Man fell over. 

Everyone except Katara. With a yell she directed a water whip to smack Zuko away from Aang. 

“Wait, don’t,” Aang started, but Katara was already by him, facing Zuko. 

“I won’t let you hurt him!” she screamed at Zuko. She swept her arms around, drawing the water from the grass around them into icicles in the air over Zuko. Zuko held his hands out openly. 

“I wasn’t going to hurt him,” he said indignantly. “I was saving him!” 

“I don’t believe you!” she yelled and jerked her hands down, sending the icicles at Zuko.


	4. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter. Zuko sort of falls-in with the group. But that does not mean anyone has forgotten his past mistakes, Katara least of all.

**Chapter 4: Confrontation**

Katara willed the icicles down to maim Zuko. She would not let him finish what his sister had started. Zuko’s eyes widened and he reflexively brought his arms up to protect his face.

 “No, wait!” Aang yelled. Suddenly all the icicles turned to water droplets that hung steadily in the air. Zuko peeked out from under his arm and released a breath. Katara whirled around, anger flashing in her eyes, to see Aang holding his arms out, keeping the water up. He made eye contact with her and flinched, losing his focus. Zuko yelped as the water fell on him.

“Don’t believe him!” she commanded Aang. “I once trusted him and it almost got you killed!” She balled her hands into fists.

A look of understanding flashed across Aang’s face. “It’s ok, Katara. This time is different.” He looked wearily at Zuko. “You protected me.” Zuko nodded and glanced at Katara. Katara stared him down, clenching her teeth. Sokka and Toph ran up to them and stood next to Katara. 

“Don’t fall for that. I bet he just saved you so he could catch you himself,” Sokka said in an overdramatic voice. Zuko stood up and raised an eyebrow at Sokka. Katara seriously doubted that theory as well: Zuko never thought that far ahead.

“Well he has done that before…” Aang admitted, interrupting Sokka before he could delve into his crack theory any further. He swayed his arms back and forth to draw the moisture out of Zuko’s clothes.

Aang’s statement made Katara finally pull her gaze away from Zuko. “What?!” she said. “When did that happen?” She refused to believe that Zuko had done it on purpose. 

Aang shrugged. “When you guys were sick with that flu or whatever. Zhao’s men caught me and Zuko saved me.”

“Oh I remember that!” Sokka interrupted. “You had us suck on frozen frogs! That was disgusting and it made my throat flap thingy feel funny for weeks!”

Katara’s face went from exasperated to annoyed. How could Aang not mention this before? She almost wanted to tell Sokka to shut up, but instead she turned toward Zuko. “You’ve had plenty of chances to change your mind before now. Why now? What do you want?” she demanded.

Zuko, now dry, glanced at her, then at Aang again. “I want to join your group and teach the Avatar… ah Aang… how to firebend so you can fulfill your destiny,” he said, looking from her to Aang back to her as he spoke. Going home… it wasn’t how I pictured it. I used to think this war was justified, that I was on the right side,” Katara snorted, but he continued. “I’ve come to realize that I was wrong… and that I can’t just wait until I’m Firelord to fix things. I need to fix things now.”

Sokka looked like he wanted to laugh. “How could you ever think the Fire Nation was the good guys?” He looked around him for support. Katara nodded decisively. The only times she had reconsidered her view of the Fire Nation had been that one time in the cave… and then again in that fishing village. Everyone else in the group was nodding and looking at Zuko as if he had lost his mind. Everyone except Aang.

“I think I understand why,” Aang said. “Sokka, remember when you enrolled me in Fire Nation school?” Zuko gave Aang and incredulous look. “While I was there, they taught in history class that the Fire Nation overcame the Airbender Army. But there never was one.” He looked at Zuko, who was now staring at the ground, then to everyone else, one by one. “If they got that wrong, what else did they get wrong? How many people think the same things Zuko used to think?”

For once, everyone was quiet as they let that thought settle in their minds. Katara had never thought about it that way… but she pushed aside any compassionate thoughts. The Fire Nation had killed her mother and almost killed Aang, that was all that mattered.

Aang looked around, then looked past them. “I wonder if he believed what he was doing was right.”

Katara looked at Aang, curiousity on her face. Then she noticed where he was looking. One by one, everyone else, except Toph, noticed where Aang was looking and turned to look themselves. Without saying a word, Aang walked over to where Combustion Man’s … body… still lay. Sokka and Toph looked at each other then followed him leaving Zuko and Katara there alone.

Katara stared at Zuko a moment, measuring him up. He seemed different than before, that was true. But he had seemed different back in the cave, too. “You saving Aang changes nothing,” she remarked before turning her back on him to follow them. She thought she heard Zuko sigh behind her, but she did not look back.

Katara walked up to Aang and touched his shoulder. He turned to her, a dull look in his eyes. Katara frowned. If he was this upset over an accidental death, how was he going to handle killing the Fire Lord?

Sokka stared at the corpse, his face tight. Toph stood to the side, facing away from the corpse, her lips pursed. Katara looked at the corpse and suddenly had a flash back of her mother, face-down in the snow, not moving no matter how much she cried, pleaded, and begged with her to get up. Her throat tightened and her head ached.

Aang took a deep breath and a strong stance, bringing Katara’s attention out of her own painful memories and back to him. Toph stopped him. “Let me. I did this…” Toph took the same stance he had and with a few decisive movements, bent the earth over Combustion Man.

They were all silent for a moment. Sokka looked like he was about to say something to break the somber mood, but Katara shot him a warning glance and he shut up.

“When this is over, I want to make a monument to everyone who lost their lives in this war,” Aang said quietly.

Katara looked at Sokka, both their faces showing their bewilderment: What were they going to do?

~*~

Katara was sitting on her bed, debating with herself about what to do. She had just decided on going to Zuko’s room to give him a very clear warning about future mistakes when a knock on her doorway distracted her. She looked up and saw Zuko standing there. She was out of bed in a heartbeat, her nose up in the air and her back ramrod straight.

“I wanted to apologize,” Zuko began slowly, but Katara cut him off.

“Then you should go talk to Aang,” she snarled at him.

Zuko’s eyes widened. “I-I have already, actually,” he stammered.

“Well then, let me tell you,” Katara said, ready to give him her well-rehearsed I-will-kill-you-if-you-screw-up-again speech.

At the same time he said, “But I wanted to apologize to you… personally…”

She paused, a little taken aback. “Oh?” she sneered once she had gotten her wits back. “For  _what_ , exactly?”

 “Um, for everything…” he mumbled.

“Be specific,” she demanded.

Zuko took in a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry I betrayed your trust.”

Katara’s eyes narrowed. “Aang almost died,” she stated. “I barely saved him with the Spirit Oasis Water. But I guess you knew about that- that’s why you sent that assassin to finish the job.”

Zuko stared at the floor. “I’ve made a  _lot_  of mistakes. Mistakes I plan to fix.”

“You can’t fix everything, Zuko,” she spat. He could never take back what he had done to Aang. To her.

“I know,” he said quietly. He suddenly gave her a very sad, very knowing look. “I just want to help Aang defeat my father and make up for all the pain I’ve caused you all,” he fidgeted. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t trust you. I will  _never_  trust you,” Katara said, walking up to him. “I almost did once,” she paused to look at him. He looked back at her nervously. “But you proved to me what a mistake that was. And let me tell you now, if you give me any indication that you are going to make anymore of your mistakes, I will end you. Even a single step backward and you’re done.”

Zuko’s jaw opened a little at the ferocity in her voice but he snapped it shut, a look of understanding and acceptance on his face. With a final glare, Katara closed her door on him, shutting two doors in one. 


End file.
